Assessment of four DNA fragments (COI, 16S rDNA, ITS2, 12S rDNA) for species identification of the Ixodida (Acari: Ixodida).

ABSTRACT:

Background

The 5' region of cytochrome oxidase I (COI) is the standard marker for DNA barcoding. However, COI has proved to be of limited use in identifying some species, and for some taxa, the coding sequence is not efficiently amplified by PCR. These deficiencies lead to uncertainty as to whether COI is the most suitable barcoding fragment for species identification of ticks.

Methods

In this study, we directly compared the relative effectiveness of COI, 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA), nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) and 12S rDNA for tick species identification. A total of 307 sequences from 84 specimens representing eight tick species were acquired by PCR. Besides the 1,834 published sequences of 189 tick species from GenBank and the Barcode of Life Databa

SUBMITTER: Lv J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3945964 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature